开云体育

On 3/21/24 05:03, tom_iphi via groups.io wrote:

I'm using the homebrew Arduino AR488 adapters on all of my GPIB instruments.
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These are cheap enough to spend an individual adapter for every instrument.
These communicate via a virtual (or real) serial ports and are compatible with the Prologix adapter, so the KE5FX toolkit can be used.
To get away without excessive cabelling, every of my adapters has a Bluetooth interface (HC-05 or HC-06 modules work well), which has very good latency.
I have experimented with wifi, but latency was poor. Another advantage of Bluetooth is that every adapter can identify itself with the instrument name. Some of my instruments are so old that they do not understand *idn? yet.

I'm familiar with KiCAD, pcb-rnd, gschem, sch-rnd tools and am thinking of making a pcb with:
integral USB connector, arduino 32u4 and mega 2560, ieee-488 connector, bluetooth HC05.
Anyone else interested? Does one already exist for sale?

Hi folks,

no need to invent the wheel a second time.
I have uploaded several variants as KiCAD projects (KiCAD5!) and some additional information to this folder:
/g/HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment/files/AR488%20GPIB%20Adapter%20Info

The zip package contains two programs:
Redirector.exe
This software can be used to redirect a device on interface A (NI VISA if installed, COM Port, TCP) to an interface B (another COM Port, TCP, Terminal, KE5FX GPIB Toolbox, Voice output...). Very useful, particularly when working with many COM ports as these can be filtered and Bluetooth names can be displayed.

Porttest.exe
Sends out random data to one COM Port and compares it to incoming data on another COM Port. I wrote this to test HC-05 Bluetooth modules. Recently, I bought a batch that wouldn't properly work at 115.2kBaud. It would drop data packets.

Have fun!
Tom DG8SAQ

On 3/21/24 11:21, tom_iphi via groups.io wrote:

no need to invent the wheel a second time.
I have uploaded several variants as KiCAD projects (KiCAD5!) and some additional information to this folder:
/g/HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment/files/AR488%20GPIB%20Adapter%20Info

That's great! Who all wants to order boards? Radu?
I'll be wanting 8. I'll probably kit the parts also, ordered with digikey's free shipping prepaid option, unless speed is required. This is back burner for me...
--
John Griessen

On 3/21/24 11:21, tom_iphi via groups.io wrote:

Redirector.exe
This software can be used to redirect a device on interface A (NI VISA if installed, COM Port, TCP) to an interface B (another COM Port, TCP, Terminal, KE5FX GPIB Toolbox, Voice output...). Very useful, particularly when working with many COM ports as these can be filtered and Bluetooth names can be displayed.
Porttest.exe
Sends out random data to one COM Port and compares it to incoming data on another COM Port. I wrote this to test HC-05 Bluetooth modules. Recently, I bought a batch that wouldn't properly work at 115.2kBaud. It would drop data packets.

Is the source available? I'm wanting to stay linux/python based for this kind of thing.
--
John Griessen

Tom,

can the redirector program be used to get a AR488 working as a plotter with KE5FX tools?

Best regards
Marcus

Sorry John,

the source code is not available. But on Linux there are more elegant methods to re-direct data traffic.

Best regards,
Tom

Hi Marcus,

as the AR488 is basically compatible with the Prologix adapter, it "should" directly work with the KE5FX toolbox without additional tools.
And I had versions that did just this.

There are a few "BUTs":
- Some Arduino virtual COM ports are picky about handshake (e.g. Leonardo ProMicro USB CDC port, which requires hardware handshake for some obscure reason). The KE5FX tools do not allow to modify the serial port handshake properties (at least I haven't found them). The redirector can solve this by connecting to the AR488 via configurable COM port protocol and to the KE5FX tools via TCP.
- Opening a virtual Bluetooth COM port can take quite some time. The KE5FX tools appear to get hickups if the adapter takes too long to open. The KE5FX tools open and close the interface at every transaction, so rather frequently. Also here the redirector can help as it can keep the Bluetooth connection open at all times and the KE5FX can open and close the other end in nearly zero time.
- If you have say 10 virtual Bluetooth COM ports showing in the KE5FX GPIB configurator, try to figure out which one belongs to the instrument that you want to control. The redirector also shows the Bluetooth identifier. So, I even use the redirector in cases where it isn't needed technically just for this convenience.
To make things even more convenient, I have added a means so the KE5FX tools can be directly opened from within the redirector.
I'm a great fan of the KE5FX toolbox. This is a wonderful software package. I use it a lot.

Btw, I am sure, these little issues could also be fixed directly in the KE5FX code which is publicly available as far as I know. For me it was easier to fix this with a separate piece of software as I only have little experience with coding in C. I live in the Pascal world (tribute to Nikolaus Wirth R.I.P.).

Tom

Tom,

thanks for the additional info. I guess I have to build a AR488 and try for myself. Or make the project work with the KE5FX toolbox, in particular the 7074 plotter emulator.
Br
Marcus